Aroma emitting articles and methods of producing the same are disclosed throughout the prior art. The prior art further discloses jewelry that emits a pleasant fragrance by several different means. A thorough examination of the prior art reveals that the method and resultant product disclosed in this application are both unique and nonobvious in their simplicity and overall integration of fragrance and silicon.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,293,602 discloses jewelry formed from natural botanical materials. The patent shows that flowers, roots, herbs and essential oils are bonded with a fluorocarbon resin to form specific pieces of jewelry. The present invention is much simpler to create since it uses only silicon and essential oils rather than natural botanical materials which can be difficult to work with. Furthermore, the present invention uses silicon which results in jewelry that is more flexible as well as more durable than that disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,293,602.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,356,115, 4,499,012 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,041,421 disclose dry-pulverized cyclodextin, vermiculite and sodium chloride granules as their fragrance carrier respectively. None of the patents suggest the use of silicon as a fragrance carrying medium nor do they suggest using the resultant substance as jewelry.
A unique method of coating existing articles with fragrances is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,950,542. The patent reveals a method of coating costume jewelry and other items with an aroma emitting film. The present invention differs in that the fragrance is integrated with the silicon rather than simply a film that covers the silicon.
Yet another invention disclosed in French patent 650,144 reveals jewelry which is capable of encapsulating perfume in liquid or solid form. The articles of jewelry are designed with a compartment that can be filled with either liquid or solid perfume. Thereafter the fragrance is released until such time that the perfume evaporates or loses its aroma. This jewelry is limited in that it requires valuable space able to contain the perfume. Therefore, the jewel, will in most instances be too large or gaudy to be worn under normal circumstances.
The present invention solves the shortcomings of the prior art by integrating essential oils with silicon which is ultimately molded to form flexible, durable and pleasant smelling articles of jewelry.